Folding bed or cot

ABSTRACT

A foldable bed including at least two frame parts hingedly interconnected for folding movement toward and away from another between an extended in-use position and an upright storage position, there being a series of coil springs each connected at one end at similar intervals along the inner sides of the frame parts so as to be arranged in opposed pairs, a plurality of transverse resilient metal bands interwoven transversely of the major axis of the bed in extended position, at least two longitudinal resilient metal bands extending uninterruptedly from end to end of said frame parts, each band being connected to two coil springs and the longitudinal bands being interwoven with the transverse bands except those adjacent said hinge means so that when the frame parts are folded toward one another the longitudinal bands fold about such a radius of curvature as to prevent undue stressing or kinking.

United States Patent Inventors Thomas 0. Marini 1500 Prospect Blvd.,Haddon Heights, NJ. 08035; Louis G. Marini, 316 Springhouse Lane,Moorestown, NJ. 08057 Appl. No. 771,890 Filed Oct. 30, 1968 PatentedSept. 7, 1971 FOLDING BED 0R COT 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl 5/111, 5/ l 91 Int. Cl A47c 19/16 Field ofSearch 5/110, 1 l 1,191

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 614,222 11/1898 Duwe 5/191 X4/1911 McCredy 5/19! X 3,089,151 5/1963 Sevcik 5/l1lX PrimaryExaminer-Bobby R. Gay Assistant ExaminerAndrew M. CalvertAtt0rneyLilling & Siegel ABSTRACT: A foldable bed including at least twoframe parts hingedly interconnected for folding movement toward and awayfrom another between an extended in-use position and an upright storageposition, there being a series of coil springs each connected at one endat similar intervals along the inner sides of the frame parts so as tobe arranged in opposed pairs, a plurality of transverse resilient metalbands interwoven transversely of the major axis of the bed in extendedposition, at least two longitudinal resilient metal bands extendinguninterruptedly from end to end of said frame parts, each band beingconnected to two coil springs and the longitudinal bands beinginterwoven with the transverse bands except those adjacent said hingemeans so that when the frame parts are folded toward one another thelongitudinal bands fold about such a radius of curvature as to preventundue stressing or kinking.

l .7 V///////// r SHEEI10F3 PATENTEU sEP new Ti g Q g vMTENTEU SEP 7197:3.602.926

sum 2 UF 3 FOLDING BED R (SOT This invention relates broadly to the artof foldable fumiture. More particularly this invention relates to afold-away bed.

Folding beds or cots are known in the art which include a foldable frameor support, a spring arrangement and a mattress. Many such foldable bedshave lightweight frames, fold up in the middle and accommodate themattress between the two halves of the frame for storage purposes.

Accordingly, this invention has for an object to provide a folding bedthat is attractive in appearance, can be readily and economicallymanufactured, is light in weight, yet is strong enough to hold up to 500pounds.

A more particular object is to provide such a folding bed or cot thatincorporates a two-part frame, hinge means about which the parts canfold toward and away from one another and a spring support includinginterrelated metal bands or strips and coil springs respectivelyconnected between the frame parts and the bands and so arranged thatwhen the frame parts are folded toward one another, the bands or stripswill fold without stressing or kinking.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a folding bed havingan improved metal-band-type spring fabric and perimetrical coil springarrangement that is woven and connected in such a manner as to provide achain reaction support from every spring to more effectively distributeweight.

It is a still further object to provide such a folding bed whichincludes an aluminum frame comprising a pair of U-shaped, tubularspring-supporting members, at least three U-shaped and shorter tubularleg members, hinge brackets connecting the spaced-apart ends of two ofthe leg members to the springsupporting members, hinge bracket meansconnecting the ends of the spring-supporting members to the spaced endsof the other leg member so that the frame can be extended to dispose thespring-supportingmembers in facing, aligned relation with the legmembers extending downwardly therefrom and such frame can be folded todispose the spring-supporting members in spaced-apart parallel relationwith the first two leg members folded against such supporting members,and the other leg means has been the supporting members a plurality ofcoil springs arranged around the inner periphery of thespring-supporting members, a plurality of resilient metal bands eachconnected at one end to one coil spring and at its other end to adiagonally arranged coil spring with the bands crossing one another inseries from one end of the frame to the other, there being at least twobands connected to each side spring, and at least a pair of longer metalbands connected between the coil springs at the ends of the frame,extending longitudinally of the frame and so interwoven with the otherbands as to permit bending of such longer bands without kinking when theframe is folded.

It is an additional object to provide a foldable frame and associatedspring support that includes a series of coil spring units connected atone end at similar spaced intervals along the inner sides of the framemembers so as to be arranged in opposed pairs, two sets of equilengthresilient metal bands connected between the coil spring unit of one pairon one side of the frame and the opposite coil spring unit of the nextadjacent pair on the other side of the frame, the bands of one setcrossing the bands of the other set so that each coil spring unit isconnected to one band of each set whereby weight applied to any band isdistributed through the coil spring units to the other bands.

Further and more specific objects will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top-plan view of one form of foldable bed in unfoldedcondition;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the midportion ofthe frame in folded condition;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly in sectionand illustrating one of the hinge brackets connecting the side rails ofthe frame to the supporting center leg;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top-plan view of the components shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary top-plan views illustrating modified formsof spring arrangements; and

FIG. 9 is a transverse cross-sectional view on an exaggerated scale,illustrating one of the resilient metal bands.

The illustrated from of folding bed is one form of such bed that istermed a three-legged bed. Other forms are utilized which embodydifferent hinge brackets and have four legs. Further the mattress M tobe used is not fully illustrated and consists of a polyurethane foammattress covered with cotton ticking and of the desired thickness, suchas 1 inch, 1% inch, 2 inch and 3 inch.

The folding bed illustrated is one in which the side rails of the topframe are made in two sections whose adjacent ends are hingedlyconnected to one another and to the upper end of a normally uprightframe-supporting leg by a hinge bracket means constructed to provide forthe side rails to extend in horizontal continuation of one another andbe supported sub stantially at their connection points by said leg andalso to perrnit the sections to fold toward one another in substantialparallelism with one another and with the supporting leg. Two similarend legs are hingedly connected to the respective side rail sections,near the outer ends thereof, to fold outwardly therefrom inbed-supporting relation and to fold toward the respective side railsections when the bed is being folded for storage purposes.

The side rail sections 1, 2 and the three legs 3, 4 and 5 are made ofheavy duty, l-inch aluminum tubing and are of U- shape. The dimensionsof these components can vary in accordance with the size of the bed andthe height it is to be above a floor. Generally the bed will be 24inches or 26 inches in width and 72 inches or 73 inches in length andstand about 12 inches off of the floor. The end legs 3 and 5 arehingedly connected to the side rail sections by bracket means 6, each ofwhich includes two opposed ears 7 and 8 that are triangulated in plan asshown. These ears are riveted to the opposite sides of the legs by apair of rivets 9 and a single rivet 10 which connects the ears to theopposite sides of the respective side rail section so that the 30 legscan hinge or pivot toward one another and lie flat against therespective side rail sections.

The center leg is connected to the adjacent ends of the side railsections by hinge bracket means generally designated at 11. Each hingebracket means is made of four pieces of sheet steel and includes a pairof leg-embracing members 12 that are each shaped to form not only asocket part 13 to fit over the upper end of the associated leg, but alsoa half web-forming portion 14 and an upright flange portion 15. A pairof strengthening and pivot-accommodating bands 16 complete each hingebracket. The socket-forming portions are riveted to the end of each legby rivets 117 so that the web-forming portions 14 are in juxtapositionon top of the associated leg, see FIG. 6. The strengthening bands 16 areriveted to the flange portions 15 by rivets I8 and further rivets l9connect the hinge bracket to the ends of rail sections I and 2 so thatsaid sections can be extended as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and folded asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The salient feature of this invention resides in the spring support forthe mattress as partially shown in FIG. 2. This support provides a flatsurface area for increased comfort, is strong and holds more weight thanconventional spring wire fabrics.

The spring support consists of a combination of coil spring units 20 andresilient steel bands generally designated 21. The coil springs areeight coils to the inch and of %-inch diameter. The steel bands 21 are0.012 gauge steel initially seven-eighths inch wide and then hemmedalong each side to provide a 6- inch overlap at 22 so that the bands arefive-eighth inch wide with rounded edges. This is shown in FIG. 9.

The spring-support arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 1 from which it isclear that in one example of foldable bed there are six coilspring-receiving apertures 23 spaced along each of the sides of theU-shaped side rail sections 1, 2 and two such apertures on each end ofthe side rail sections the spacing between the apertures 23 on the endsof the rail sections is greater than the spacing between the aperturesalong the sides of such sections The steel bands 21 include 22equilength sections of steel bands 210, four shorter-length sections 211and two longer sections 212. These sections are woven in interconnectionwith the coil spring units so that the equilength sections 210 extenddiagonally from one coil spring unit 20 on one side to the unit on theother side that is directly across from the next adjacent unit on saidone side. All of the bands extending from one side overlap the bandsextending from the other side. Thus in FIG. I, the bands 210 that extendup from the lower sides of the side rail sections 1 and 2 overlie thebands 210 that extend down from the side rail sections. The shorter bandsections 211 extend from the end coil spring unit 20 at the side of eachrail section to the farthest unit 20 on the end of the rail section. Thelonger bands 212 are interwoven with the other bands in an over andunder relation except that at the under portion of the bed frame, thebands 212 overlie some of the bands 210 so that when the frame is foldedfor storage, as shown in FIG. 3, the bands 212 can bend around such aradius of curvature that they will not be unduly kinked.

In the illustrated embodiment one band 212 overlies five bands 210 atthe upper portion of FIG. 1 and six bands 210 at the lower portion ofFIG. 1.

With beds that embody one center leg support as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,the bands 212 must overlie at least those bands 210 that cross oneanother at the center of the frame. Usually they will overlie several ofthe bands 210. If the bed is of another construction, such as one havingfour legs andutilizing a 2-inch thick mattress, the hinging relationwill be different and the longitudinal bands will have a greater radiusof curvature when the sections are folded together so that they can beinterwoven without regard to their positioning.

Thus the essential aspect is that there be sufficient unobstructed spacebetween the two points where a band 212 starts to bend that the radiusof curvature is such that the band will bend without undue kinking. Thisis effected by either having the bands 212 overlie enough bands 210 toprevent kinking when bending or by having the plane of the folded bedsections sufficiently far apart that they can bend without kinking evenif one or more bands 210 are on top of a band 212 in folded condition.

The spring fabric arrangement is such that two bands are connected toone end of each coil spring unit so that when a weight is applied thestress is distributed completely throughout the series of bands wherebynone of the bands are overstressed.

There is in effect a chain reaction support from every coil spring unitand thus the bed will hold up to 500 pounds which is far in excess ofthe weight that can be held by conventional wire fabric spring supports.

Furthermore, the bed is far more comfortable in that the spring-steelbands provide 400 percent more surface area than the conventional wirefabric supports. Thus a 1-inch thick foam mattress on the bed of theinvention will equal in comfort a 2 /fi-inch thick mattress supported bythe conventional wire fabric.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 is similar to that of FIG. 1 in all respectsexcept that the bands 211 are omitted. This fonn is merely amodification of a flat-surface-area bed support utilizing bands 210 and212 in interwoven relation.

FIG. 8 illustrates another form in which the bands comprise longitudinalbands 215 and transverse bands 216. The longitudinal bands can overlieall the transverse bands or be interwoven.

Neither of the forms in FIGS. 7 and 8 provide the complete chainreaction spring support of the preferred arrangement. However, both ofthese forms provide the flat surface area for the comfort aspects andwill support adequate weight.

In all forms of the invention it is to be emphasized that thelongitudinal bands are continuous from end to end of the frame and allbands are connected to coil spring units at each of their ends.

What is claimed is:

1. In a foldable bed, a frame means including at least two parts, hingemeans about which the parts can fold toward and away from one anotherbetween an extended in-use position and an upright storage position, aspring-support means including a plurality of coil spring unitsconnected to the frame means at one of their ends and spaced around theinner periphery thereof, and a plurality of transverse resilient metalbands interwoven transversely of the major axis of the frame in extendedposition and at least two longitudinal resilient metal bands extendinguninterruptedly from end to end of said frame means, each band beingconnected to two coil spring units and the longitudinal bands beinginterwoven with said transverse bands except those adjacent said hingemeans so that when the frame parts are folded toward one another, theyfold about such a radius of curvature as to prevent undue kinking.

2. A foldable bed as claimed in claim 1 in which said transverse metalbands are arranged diagonally of the bed.

3. A foldable bed as claimed in claim 1 in which said coil spring unitsinclude a series of coil springs each connected at one end at similarspaced intervals along the inner sides of the frame parts so as to bearranged in opposed pairs, said transverse metal bands comprising twosets of equilength bands connected between the coil spring of one pairon one side of the frame and the opposite coil spring of the nextadjacent pair on the other side of the frame, the bands of one setcrossing the bands of the other set on the same side thereof so thateach coil spring is connected to one band of each set whereby weightapplied to any band is distributed through the coil springs to the otherbands.

4. The foldable bed as claimed in claim 1 in which said two frame partscomprise a pair of generally U-shaped members, at least three U-shapedand shorter leg members, hinge brackets connecting the spaced-apart endsof two of the leg members to the first-mentioned U-shaped members, saidhinge means comprising hinge bracket means connecting the ends of thefirst-mentioned U-shaped members to the ends of the other leg member sothat the frame can be extended to dispose the first-mentioned U-shapedmembers in facing aligned relation with the leg members extendingdownwardly therefrom and folded to dispose the first-mentioned U-shapedmembers in spaced-apart parallel relation with the first two leg membersfolded against the first-mentioned U-shaped members and the third legmember between such U-shaped members, and said transverse metal bandseach being connected at one end to one coil spring and at its other endto a diagonally arranged coil spring with the bands crossing one anotherin series from one end of the frame to the other, there being at leasttwo bands connected to each side coil spring.

1. In a foldable bed, a frame means including at least two parts, hingemeans about which the parts can fold toward and away from one anotherbetween an extended in-use position and an upright storage position, aspring-support means including a plurality of coil spring unitsconnected to the frame means at one of their ends and spaced around theinner periphery thereof, and a plurality of transverse resilient metalbands interwoven transversely of the major axis of the frame in extendedposition and at least two longitudinal resilient metal bands extendinguninterruptedly from end to end of said frame means, each band beingconnected to two coil spring units and the longitudinal bands beinginterwoven with said transverse bands except those adjacent said hingemeans so that when the frame parts are folded toward one another, theyfold about such a radius of curvature as to prevent undue kinking.
 2. Afoldable bed as claimed in claim 1 in which said transverse metal bandsare arranged diagonally of the bed.
 3. A foldable bed as claimed inclaim 1 in which said coil spring units include a series of coil springseach connected at one end at similar spaced intervals along the innersides of the frame parts so as to be arranged in opposed pairs, saidtransverse metal bands comprising two sets of equilength bands connectedbetween the coil spring of one pair on one side of the frame and theopposite coil spring of the next adjacent pair on the other side of theframe, the bands of one set crossing the bands of the other set on thesame side thereof so that each coil spring is connected to one band ofeach set whereby weight applied to any band is distributed through thecoil springs to the other bands.
 4. The foldable bed as claimed in claim1 in which said two frame parts comprise a pair of generally U-shapedmembers, at least three U-shaped and shorter leg members, hinge bracketsconnecting the spaced-apart ends of two of the leg members to thefirst-mentioned U-shaped members, said hinge means comprising hingebracket means connecting the ends of the first-mentioned U-shapedmembers to the ends of the other leg member so that the frame can beextended to dispose the first-mentioned U-shaped members in facingaligned relation with the leg members extending downwardly therefrom andfolded to dispose the first-mentioned U-shaped members in spaced-apartparallel relation with the first two leg members folded against thefirst-mentioned U-shaped members and the third leg member between suchU-shaped members, and said transverse metal bands each being connectedat one end to one coil spring and at its other end to a diagonallyarranged coil spring with the bands crossing one another in series fromone end of the frame to the other, there being at least two bandsconnected to each side coil spring.